10 Questions * William M. Kelso

You Know Him Because: He Directs The Archaeological Dig That Slowly Is Unearthing The Remains Of The First Permanent English Settlement In America.

Jamestown Digger Finds Himself In Royal Company

May 07, 2007|By KIM O'BRIEN ROOT Daily Press

JAMES CITY — Since 1994, Bill Kelso has been digging in the dirt at Jamestown, searching for clues about the historic settlement's beginnings.

Although prevailing scientific wisdom held that the fort constructed in 1607 on the banks of the James River had washed away, Kelso pored over books, acted on a hunch and began scraping at the ground.

His discoveries have made the 400th anniversary of Jamestown all the more richer because people have something to look at. Even Queen Elizabeth II asked to meet him when she visited last week.

Kelso talked about his work the day before he was to give the queen a tour of the archaeological site.

Q: How do you feel about meeting the queen?

A: That's as good as it gets. Archaeologists always want people to be interested in what they find because they are interested. But to have the Queen of England interested -- that's off the charts. This is where the British empire began. This is not only modern America, but it's also the first colony out of the British Isles. It began with this little piece right here.

Q: Has your work been different during this 400th anniversary year?

A: No, we had a plan from day one to do two things: one, of course, to discover the fort and find what we can learn new ... about Jamestown. But also, to make it accessible to visitors educationally. We rope off places, it's open and people can come up close and talk and interact with archaeologists.

Q: What would this celebration be like had these discoveries not been made?

A: Well, it is what's new about Jamestown, to add to the mix that wasn't there in 1957 when (the Queen) was here last. It would just be a rerun of all that. It would be all woods around here. Maybe she wouldn't have come back.

Q: How did you choose where to dig in the first place?

A: One document said the church was in the midst of the fort. I thought, well, what if the church never changed its location? Conventional wisdom was that this whole thing was located on a different part of the island that had been washed away by the waves of the river. I thought, let's throw that out and say what if? Is there another area it could be? We started digging between the church tower and the river. Within a matter of weeks, we did find, as it turned out, the south wall line of the fort.

Q: What's been the most exciting discovery for you?

A: First the fort, then to be able to show through the passage of time, how the company became more realistic about the whole operation and funding it and building permanent things. To be able to see that has been very, very significant. And then the burials ... in one case, we found a burial of the captain who was the builder, designer and the unsung hero of Jamestown that no one ever heard about because he died so early.

Q: What's the best thing about the job?

A: That moment of discovery. You get them all day long. Most days, I would say we find 1,000 artifacts. This place is just absolutely rich.

Q: Do you ever get tired of doing interviews? You do a lot. (With the queen's visit last week, his schedule was full of them.)

A: Oh, my gosh. Right now, it's just off the charts. No, I think it's keeping the support going, raising money for grants.

Q: What are your future hopes for this project?

A: I hope we can take all the science, the analysis, the interpretation as far as it can be done. I want to see the rest of the fort exposed. We don't necessarily have to dig everything that's here. I'm hoping this can go on. Plus, to be like we are now. If you visit Jamestown, and you don't have an open area, what can you look at? Grass. A few logs up in the air. You can't have your own moment of discovery -- 'Look at that stone!' That's the real thing.

Q: The governor's office ran a lottery for 108 VIP spots to see the queen, in honor of 108 original Jamestown settlers. But you and others have said there were 104. Who's right?

A: (Points to self and grins). I know what it was. I spent a lot of time getting to that figure. I'm sure that's what it was.

Q: (A group of schoolchildren walks by the dig site where Kelso stands) Do you like seeing the kids get so excited?

A: I sure do. History might be making a comeback here. They can see something real and get interested, then maybe they'll start questioning it and read into it. But boy, they're here. Look at that. *

* Background: The former college football star started out as a historian, but got hooked on archaeology after volunteering for a dig at Denbigh Plantation. He previously worked at Monticello, where his discoveries changed prevailing ideas about how the white- and black-American communities there lived.